For many years, standardized tests (assessments) have been administered to examinees for various reasons, such as for educational testing or for evaluating particular skills. For example, academic skills tests (e.g., SATs, GREs, LSATs, GMATs, etc.) are typically administered to a large number of students. Results of these tests are used by colleges, universities, and other educational institutions as a factor in determining whether an examinee should be admitted to study at that educational institution. Other standardized testing is carried out to determine whether or not an individual has attained a specified level of knowledge or mastery of a given subject.
Traditionally, standardized tests have been paper-based, whereby examinees are gathered in a room and given paper test materials, usually comprising a question booklet and an answer sheet that is computer readable by optical or magnetic means. With the growth of the computer industry and the reduction in price of computing equipment, fields in which information has traditionally been distributed on paper have begun to convert to electronic information distribution. The field of standardized testing is no exception. A modestly-priced computer system can be used in place of a paper test booklet to administer test questions to a user. The use of computer systems to deliver test questions to users is generically described as “computer based testing” (CBT). Some computer-based testing has been carried out with test takers using their own computing equipment such as laptop computers. The present inventors have observed that such conventional systems may suffer from lack of reliability, lack of control, and lack of security, and have identified a need to overcome these and other shortcomings.